Announcements and Initiatives

We are looking forward to a new school year. The Manchester School District is committed to creating a healthy environment that enhances the development of lifelong wellness practices, promotes healthy eating and physical activities that support student achievement, and complies with federal mandates regulating school food and nutrition before, during, and after school.

Hillside Middle School continues to offer a program, called Guiding Stars, in the school cafeteria. The program was implemented in February 2012. The Guiding Stars program provides information that will assist each student in making nutritious food choices. Taste testings and classes have been added occasionally to remind the students that the Guiding Stars program is available to them.

Guiding Stars is an objective food rating system that rates food based on nutrient density using a scientific algorithm. Rated foods are marked with easy-to-follow tags indicating 0, 1, 2, or 3 stars. Foods are rated according to its nutritional value. The higher the nutritional value, the more Guiding Stars it receives. If a food does not receive a star, it means it does not meet our rigorous criteria. As the student navigates through the cafeteria at lunchtime, the Guiding Stars system will help them identify healthier food choices. Guiding Stars is not intended to tell students what to buy. Instead, the system points them toward foods that have more vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, whole grains and less fats, cholesterol, sugar and sodium.

Hillside parents/guardians are invited to talk their children about Guiding Stars and discuss how they make nutritious food choices. Guiding Stars is a great beginning to an important conversation about healthy food choices. Visit www.guidingstars.com for more information.

The Monarchs Care Foundation, the charitable arm of the Manchester Monarchs, in partnership with the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation and the Foundation for Healthy Communities have partnered with the Manchester School District to teach Manchester students the importance of eating healthy and staying fit with the Winning With Wellness program.

The Winning With Wellness program will be piloted in 7 elementary schools throughout the Manchester School District sharing their message with fourth and fifth graders. The four-week program will feature two Monarchs players talking with students and teaching them the 5-2-1-0 Healthy NH guidelines through the Winning With Wellness program.

5 – Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

2 – Cut back watching television and playing video games to two hours or less a day.

1 – Participate in at least one hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day.

In addition, an interactive video is shown to the students with additional players talking about eating healthy and exercising.

“We are proud to be able to continue our partnership with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation and excited to join efforts with the Manchester School District to bring awareness to Manchester students with the 5-2-1-0 program through Winning With Wellness,” said Monarchs Vice President of Public Affairs Kimberly Mueller. “We are able to utilize our players as role models to assist children in learning how to lead a healthier lifestyle through Winning With Wellness.”

“The Harvard Pilgrim Foundation is thrilled to work with our many community partners who strive to improve children’s behaviors by building healthy habits that last a lifetime,” said Karen Voci, Executive Director of the Harvard Pilgrim Foundation. “The Winning With Wellness program is a perfect example of how small steps, such as swapping soda for water and limiting screen time, can make a big difference in a child’s health.”

The Monarchs Care Foundation and Harvard Pilgrim Foundation have brought the Winning With Wellness message to schools throughout New Hampshire for several seasons. This is the second season that the program has partnered with The Manchester School District, Manchester Health Department and Catholic Medical Center to focus on educating students in the Manchester School District on eating healthy and exercising.
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"Winning With Wellness program demonstrates how physical activity and eating habits impact not only overall health but also academic and athletic success. The Monarch players are perfect examples of how healthy lifestyle habits can pay off!" adds Sue Sheehy, Dietitian for the Manchester School District.

The students will not only walk away with the knowledge of leading a healthy lifestyle but will also be given goal trackers to show their progress of eating and exercising over the four weeks of the program, incentives each week and a stepometer. Two students from each school who show commitment to the program will be chosen as official Monarchs bench warmers at one of the Monarchs games.

The school that has the most students participate in the program will receive a plaque awarded by the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Debra Livingston and Mayor Gatsas. One classroom in each school participating will receive a bobble head trophy for having the most students stick with the program for all 4 weeks.

The Team Nutrition Project is a collaborative initiative of the Health Department and School District. This project promotes and reinforces healthy life style choices for children through nutrition education, meal planning and physical activity. The project, initially piloted in six elementary schools in 1999, was expanded to include all Manchester schools in 2000.

A Team Nutrition newsletter with nutrition information (in addition to a web site with health information) acompanies the menu sent to parents of all elementary children. Team Nutrition participates in other programs such as the:

USDA's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program

Healthy School Bulletin Boards

Lunch Club

Winning with Wellness Program

Nutrition Classes

Guiding Stars Program

Family Book Bag Program

School Health Advisory Council and more

The Team Nutrition Project, through education, promotion, and marketing, has enhanced and improved School Lunch Menus, contributing to a greater then ten percent gain in elementary student sales. Partnerships have been formed with the Makin’ It Happen Coalition, Catholic Medical Center, Elliot Health Systems, Dartmouth Hitchcock Manchester, Greater Manchester Mental Health, UNH Cooperative Extension, and the American Cancer Society.